How to Stay Healthy In the Long Run

How to Stay Healthy In the Long Run

By Arun Rao

I’ve heard the same story over and over: a friend who was a dedicated and effective activist woke up one cloudy day, burnt out and depressed. She then stopped showing up to events and protests and felt worse about not doing anything. Guilt set in and made recovery harder. Over time, she just left the movement.

So how do we stop activists from burning out?

To stay healthy and thrive, you need to take care of yourself first. It’s a multi-year process with five parts, a Pentathlon: i) Eating, ii) Sleeping, iii) Exercising, iv) Meditating, v) Socializing. You can give up on any part for a few weeks, months, or years, but you won’t last and your effectiveness will go away. Work on habit formation: cue-> activity -> reward. (Duhigg, The Power of Habit). Do your own research; consult books and journal articles by experts and weigh new information with a Bayesian method.

Principles: Get most of your food from healthy unprocessed forms (real food), with a diversity of fruits and vegetables (color, texture, etc). Shop at farmers markets first, co-ops with bulk foods second, and online third. You will need artificial vitamin supplements (or you will get very sick over time). Eat as much volume as you can (but high nutrient / low calorie foods). Avoid sauces, use herbs to season. Learn to cook simple meals.

Supplements: A multi-vitamin is insurance, but you absolutely need separate vitamins for: 5000mg B-12, Vitamin D and iron, calcium, zinc, and EPA/DHA omega-3 (linolenic acid). Vegans who don’t supplement are at high-risk! You can buy bulk online or on Costco to feed a large family (and it’s much cheaper than eating out or grocery stores).

Timing and amounts: Eat all your food ideally within a 10-hour window, at max a 12-hour window. Don’t eat within 3 hours before bedtime. Eat within an hour of waking. A large breakfast, moderate lunch, and light dinner (with small snacks in-between). Keep total calories low: it helps to sometimes fast for a meal or a day.

2) Sleeping: 7.5-8.5 hours a day on a regular schedule, proper hygiene.

Principles: The most healthy and productive people (for the long run) get quality sleep time. You can function many years at a sub-optimal cognitive level without even knowing it. Cultivate habits of sleep hygiene.

Hours needed: 7.3-8.5 hours (average is 7.9 hours).

Timing: Structure your sleep to occur at the same time daily; it’s best to wake up anywhere from an hour before dawn to dawn. Try to sleep in the midnight to 4am box (plus or minus 3.5 hours each way).

Sleep hygiene: Have a regular routine. Don’t eat for 3 hours before bed, and avoid stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, alcohol). Turn off all devices and screens at least one hour before bed, and dim all the lights and/or wear orange-tinted glasses. Put black tape on all LED and passive lights. Keep your bedroom dark and quiet; only use it for sleeping (no computers, TV, pads, etc). When sleeping, wear a dark sleep mask and put a pillow under your knee (or between your knees).

Principles: Get cardio (aerobic and anaerobic), stretching and alignment, and resistance (for muscles and strength) – a balance between all 3 is important (many “fit” people only get one or two). Vegans are at higher risk of bone and muscle loss, so they need to exercise more (esp resistance).

Best activities: Walking is the single best thing you can do. 10,000-15,000 steps a day, use a tracker. After that: running, hiking, swimming, cycling, gym time, yoga, tai chi, climbing, the scientific 7-minute workout.

Timing and hours needed: Get 30-60 minutes of moderate to strenuous movement every day. Keep moving the rest of the day and don’t sit too much (take breaks from sitting every 45 minutes or use a standing desk).

4) Meditating: 10-30 minutes a day, plus at least one block for a few hours each week.

Principles: Inward, quiet time for mindfulness. This can be meditation, prayer, chanting, hiking, etc. The key is that you’re not doing anything – try to cease the movement of your mind and feelings. Just be. This is essential time for your mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Practice non-attachment, embrace silence.

Best places: At home or in a secluded place (forest, desert, church, synagogue, temple, mosque, etc).

Timing and hours needed: Start with 2-5 minutes daily and work your way up. Steadiness and consistency are more important than length. The best times are right after you wake up, right before you sleep, and the hour before lunch. Try to set aside at least one block a week for a few hours where you have more time for this.

Principles: You become similar to whom you socialize with, and their company either uplifts or degrades you. Ultimately you get to choose your friends, associates, co-workers, etc; their habits, values, and actions become your own. If you want to develop the 4 habits above, surround yourself with others who have cultivated them. Share meals, walks, and workouts with these people, try to spend Friday night to Saturday night with them. To the happy show kindness, to the suffering compassion, to the virtuous joy, to the wicked or nasty, equanimity.

Good people: Givers. Anyone who has been through adversity and difficult times and came out stronger. People who put their values, duties, and responsibilities over pleasure or selfish calculations of utility. Kind optimists.

Troubled people: The opposite, people who are takers. This isn’t to say you should stop contact with close family and friends who you care for and who may be troubled. Rather, just limit social interactions with others; help when you can, but don’t let their problems overwhelm your life.